Vico on the Origin of Language

[This is last part of a longer series - previous post ("Joyce, Vico and the Homeric Question")] One of those questions that intellectuals in the 18th and early 19th century seem to have taken really seriously, one that perhaps we don't, is the question of how spoken and written language began. My sense is that most contemporary … Continue reading Vico on the Origin of Language →

Joyce, Vico, Oral Poetry and the Homeric Question – A Joyce Writing Project

[This is part of a longer series – previous post ("Deeper into the Night") - next post ("Vico on the Origins of Language")] My Master's program culminates in writing a thesis. I'm writing this post to describe what I'm planning on working on, as much to share as to work out for myself what I'm actually going to … Continue reading Joyce, Vico, Oral Poetry and the Homeric Question – A Joyce Writing Project →

Deeper Into the Night

[This is part of a longer series – previous post ("Book IV") - next post ("Joyce, Vico and the Homeric Question")] [A page from The Sigla of Finnegans Wake by Roland McHugh.] I realized at some point today that somethings gone a bit wrong in my head when pages of text like this start to make sense. To take … Continue reading Deeper Into the Night →

Finnegans Wake – Book IV

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (III.4) - next post ("Deeper into the Night")] Book IV - Finnegans Wake's final book - contains only one chapter. It stands for the last of the four stages in Vico's theory of history - the "ricorso." The chapter read like the finale to a symphony, and also like … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book IV →

Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 4

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (III.3) – next post (IV)] I finished the whole book a few days ago but didn't get to blog about the last two chapters. I'll keep them separate just for the principle of it I guess. As HCE's final arguments from III.3 recede into the background, someone goes to sleep … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 4 →

Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 3

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (III.2) – next post (III.4)] Two times previously, Finnegans Wake has devolved into a trial - in Book I, first Finnegan, then HCE met their many accusers; in Book II it was Shem/Buckley charged with the murder of the Russian general. Now, we get the final trial - that of Shaun … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 3 →

Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 2

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (III.1) – next post (III.3)] This chapter continues the easy-to-read tale of Shaun begun in III.1. The literary conventions being followed are identified with almost Victorian-realist pseudo-transparency (but things get a little murky at the end). We start with another introduction of Shaun, move to a very long speech delivered … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 2 →

Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 1

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (II.4) – next post (III.2)] This was, by far, the easiest chapter to read in this book so far. Why does Joyce reserve relatively straightforward prose for the 13th chapter of a book that the average reader most likely gives up on halfway through chapter 1? In fact, the answer … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book III Chapter 1 →

Finnegans Wake – Book II Chapter 4

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (II.3) – next post (III.1)] After the 70+ page penultimate chapter of book II, its final entry is only 15 pages. The drunken carousing and the tale of Buckley and the Russian general subside, and everyone in the family goes to bed. We're left with (mostly) the four old commentators … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book II Chapter 4 →

Finnegans Wake – Book II Chapter 3

[This is part of a longer series – previous post (II.2) – next post (II.4)] I believe this is the longest single chapter of Finnegans Wake - coming in at 73 pages. There being a massive snowstorm in Chicago, however, I had nothing else to do really. 73 pages took me about 3 hours to read. Even so, it was easier … Continue reading Finnegans Wake – Book II Chapter 3 →